Carpathian Basin Project
Principal Investigators: Prof G Houseman, Prof G Stuart
Sponsor: NERC
Dates: 2005 to 2008
Summary
The Pannonian Basin was formed as a result of extension of the crust and lithosphere between about 20 and 15 million years ago. To understand why this occurred, and what is the present day structure in the outer few hundred km of the Earth beneath this basin, we plan to: (A) run experiments on computer models that simulate the stress and strain-rate fields and deformation processes on geological timescales, and (B) make seismological measurements of the lithosphere and upper mantle in its present state. We will integrate the results of numerical modelling using a new 3D computer model of gravitational instability in the Earth's crust and lithosphere, and new seismological measurements from a temporary array deployed in Hungary and Austria, in order to develop new and quantitative dynamical models of the extensional process.